[anbende]

Came here to say this.

I see a lot of high kicks in MMA too. I've been taught to never do that, because if the person grabs the kick (or just takes the hit) and attacks my back leg, that'll be that.

In other words, the back and forth kind of kickboxing that you see is partially a product of the fighters not being allowed to aim for disabling blows.

It's unclear to me what fights would look like and whether any other arts would rise up if the fighter protections were removed. (and I'm not sure I want to find out)

[Jtsummers]

I suspect they'd look like some of the really early UFC fights which were ludicrously brutal, and consequently banned in many US states.

[bigato]

Just like "vale tudo" fights in Brazil before it became a sport.